


Let Me Hear Your Heartbeat

by WinterJoy



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Gen, Happy Ending, Hugs, Irondad, Nightmares, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Lives
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-23
Updated: 2021-01-23
Packaged: 2021-03-15 00:28:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,511
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28929531
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WinterJoy/pseuds/WinterJoy
Summary: After the battle, Peter's nightmares make it hard to remember that everything worked out okay. Sometimes, he needs to hear heartbeats to be sure.
Relationships: Peter Parker & Morgan Stark (Marvel Cinematic Universe), Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Comments: 12
Kudos: 167





	Let Me Hear Your Heartbeat

**Author's Note:**

  * For [AimAim94](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AimAim94/gifts).



> For @AimAim 94. Your fanfics are amazing and I wanted to write something to say thank you <3

The clock read 2:08 am when Peter jolted awake in bed.

He froze, fists clutching sweat-soaked sheets as he tried to remember where he was.

_Titan. Dust. Thanos. Tony._

Tears rolled down Peter’s cheeks unnoticed.

_Tony snapping. Tony falling. Tony’s heart stopping._

In that moment, Peter felt smaller than the dust particles he had once turned into. He forced himself to move past the nightmare-induced paralysis and sit up. His ragged breaths echoed loudly in the silence of the dark bedroom.

_It’s over_ , he reminded himself, _it’s over, we won. Thanos is dead. Tony is alive. The doctors saved him._

Peter gradually got his breathing under control, but he was still shaking and not quite convinced of what was real. The thought of going back to sleep felt about as appealing as lying on a bed of sharpened, red-hot nails, so Peter stood in the middle of his room, trying to get his bearings.

Tony. Mr. Stark. Dad. Peter wasn’t sure what to call the man. He thinks they’ve gotten much closer over the last couple of months since the battle, but in the moment, it felt like that was just a dream.

_Was it real?_

Without thinking through what he was doing, Peter pulled his suit on over his pyjamas and leapt out the window. It would be horrible to arrive and find out that it was all a dream; that Tony was dead. But if there was even a slight chance that Mr. Stark was alive? Peter needed to find out.

Karen might have tried to talk to Peter; to ask him why he was out past his curfew, but Peter couldn’t hear or see anything that wasn’t related to his goal. He tuned the world out without even noticing as he swung towards the home of the man who made him feel safe.

Finally, Peter somersaulted through the window and into the Stark kitchen. The house was dark and silent, only punctuated by the ticking of the kitchen clock and the steady thump of heartbeats.

_One. Two. Three. Three heartbeats._

Peter sagged in relief. _Three._

He stumbled his way toward the bedrooms, shedding his suit as he went. The heartbeats drew him closer like a moth to flame.

Peter held his breath when he stood in front of the door to the master bedroom. Two heartbeats. One with a special little skip every other beat. Tony.

_He’s alive,_ Peter thought, resting his head against the doorframe, _he’s really here_.

Slowly, gradually, Peter’s own heartbeat calmed down and his tunnel vision receded, leaving him exhausted. He felt ready to sleep again, but not alone. _Please, not alone._ He needed help remembering that this was real. It would be weird to go into the room with Pepper asleep. Sure, she married Tony, but Peter barely knew her. Swinging back to May wasn’t an option when he was so tired, so that left…

…Morgan. Ever so gently, Peter opened the door to reveal the silhouette of the girl he thought of as his little sister. It had been a shock to learn about her when he returned, and at first Peter was worried that he might resent her for taking so much of Mr. Stark’s time. Two minutes with her, however, had blown all his doubts clear out of the water.

She had run to him, mouth running a million miles a minute as she explained how happy she was to finally meet him. Peter barely got a word in edgewise before she was tugging at his hand, begging him to come play with her. Of course, he followed her immediately. He had always wanted to be a big brother, but with his parents dying, May and Ben barely scraping by, and then Ben—well, Peter hadn’t thought it would ever happen.

Now though, staring at Morgan’s dark hair strewn across her pillow in the moonlight, Peter knew there was nothing he wouldn’t do for her. Silently shutting the door behind him, Peter crept over to kneel by the bed.

For a minute he simply watched her, soaking in her peaceful expression and the lullaby of the three heartbeats in the house.

Leaning down, Peter pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead. He went to move away, but Morgan’s eyes fluttered open.

“Petey?” her sleepy voice questioned.

“Yeah, Mo, it’s just me,” he whispered, “go back to sleep.”

“What’re you doin’?” she persisted, clearly not willing to let this go.

“I thought we could have a sleepover,” Peter admitted, “would you be okay with that?”

Morgan’s eyes lit up.

“Yeah!” she exclaimed, her voice an adorable mix of tired and excited. “Come cuddle.”

“It’s okay, Mongoose,” Peter assured her, “I can sleep on the floor.”

“Nope,” Morgan declared, popping the p as she spoke, “I want snuggles.”

Who was Peter to argue with that?

Peter slid under the covers, wrapping his arms around Morgan when she shuffled closer and laid her head on his chest.

“I love you Petey,” Morgan whispered, “sweet dreams.”

“I love you too, Morgan.” he breathed, feeling the gentle rise of her ribcage beneath his arms.

For a few minutes, Peter just laid there, basking in the warmth of his sister and the calming rhythm of the heartbeats in the next room.

With a smile on his face, he fell asleep.

* * *

“Good morning, kiddos.”

Peter blinked open his eyes to see his dad—Tony? His Tony?—gazing at him with a soft expression.

Morgan started to stir from her place on Peter’s chest, little feet kicking his legs in all the most painful places.

“Oof!” he grunted. “Good morning.”

“Don’t kick your brother, Maguna.” Tony chided gently, rolling her off him. “Sorry Pete, sleepy Morgan should come with a warning label.”

“It’s okay; I don’t mind.” Peter assured him. He knew Tony must be confused to find him here, but Peter loved how safe he felt when Mr. Stark just took it in stride.

“You’re a strange one, Underoos,” Tony chided as he scooped up Morgan, “now come on you two, those pancakes won’t eat themselves.”

Morgan jerked awake. “Chocolate chip?!?”

“I guess you’ll have to go see.” Tony chuckled, setting down his now squirming daughter so she could dart out of the room.

Tony watched her go before turning his attention back to Peter.

“When did you get here, buddy?”

Peter blushed and looked down. “Uh, maybe 3? I’m not really sure.”

Tony sat down on the bed and wrapped an arm around Peter, pulling him close.

“Talk to me, bambino.”

“It’s just—” Peter sniffed, “every night, I get nightmares. Titan, Thanos, the battle, sure, but mostly of you dying.” Suddenly weeks worth of bottled-up feelings are pouring out of him. “It’s bad, and it’s really scary. I don’t want to live in a world without you.” he stressed.

“Last night was really awful,” Peter admitted, “I woke up and I couldn’t remember what was real. I—I’m not really sure what happened; I was pretty out of it. But I remember that I _needed_ to know if you were really here.”

“I am.” Tony promised. “I’m here, and you’re here, and I’m not letting go of you.”

Peter gathered up the courage to plow through the rest of his story.

“I swung over here so I could listen to your heartbeat and make sure you were real. Once I knew you were, my exhaustion caught up with me and I wanted to sleep, but I didn’t want to be alone. I knew it would be weird to come into your bedroom, so I had a sleepover with Mo.”

Tony squeezed Peter extra tightly before letting go to cup his face.

“Listen to me, Peter,” Tony whispered, locking eyes with the boy he thought of as a son, “I’m really glad you came over. I’m really happy that being with your sister makes you feel better. But I need you to know that you can come to me, any time, any where.”

Peter’s face scrunched up in confusion.

“I mean it, Pete.” Tony stressed, gently rubbing the boy’s cheekbone with his thumb. “If you need a sleepover at three in the morning, then I want you to wake me up so I can lay with you and make you feel safe. If you have a nightmare, I want you to phone me. Every time. I don’t care if I’m in a meeting with the President of the United States—if you need a hug, you come and get me, and I’ll hold you and not let go. Understand?” 

Peter nodded before throwing himself into the older man’s arms, burying his face into Tony’s neck. Tony wrapped his arms around the teenager and rocked him back and forth, murmuring sweet nothings in Italian until Peter composed himself and leaned back.

“Do you really think I’m more important than the literal President?”

“Absolutely kid; do you want to know why?”

Peter wiped his eyes and nodded.

“Because you’re my kiddo, and I love you.”

Peter grinned and started crying all over again.

“I love you too… Dad.”

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos and comments make my day!  
> Find me on Twitter: @WinterJoy4


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